The Rich Little Poor Boy
by chilipepperz61
Summary: A day in the life of a young Blair and his mother


The Rich Little Poor Boy

by LD Steen

Naomi looked up from weeding her little garden. It had been about an hour since she had gotten home from work and now she could hear Blair's bus laboriously wheeze its way up the hill to their little wood frame house. She brushed the dirt from her knees as she stood up and picked up her basket of tomatoes from the middle of the garden. The bus ground to a halt and the driver, Mrs Christian waved a greeting to the young mother

.  
"Are you going to be at the marketplace this weekend"

"Absolutely" Naomi smiled. "I have a bumper crop this year. I may even take some t-shirts and a few paintings"

"I'll be looking for you then. Davey just loves the blue tye-dye you made him last month."

Blair exited the bus and brushed angrily past Naomi. The bus driver shook her head as she started away

"He's had a bad day." She warned softly. Naomi nodded

.  
"Blair sweetie" Naomi called as her son threw down his backpack and headed for his tire swing. Naomi was torn. She felt that Blair wanted to be alone, but she simply didn't recognize this angry child as her sweet little boy. Worry won out and she stood in front of the swing.

"Blair, what's wrong?" She tilted his face up gently,gasping as she saw the cuts and bruises on the tear stained face. "Blair Jacob Sandburg, what happened"

Blair pulled his face from her gentle hands. He sniffled but said nothing.

"All right young man. If you won't tell me what happened I'll go call the school to find out." She stormed towards the house.

"No Mommy!" Blair threw himself at her. "I'm sorry"

Naomi held him tightly.

"Sorry for what baby"

"I'm sorry for fighting." Blair's huge blue eyes were filled with anguish and his lower lip trembled as he fought back tears. "I know you don't want me to fight"

"Then why did you"

"It was Stephen. He said...He called you some really bad names"

A small smile played around Naomi's lips. She could already imagine what names she had been called. After all, she'd heard them all before.

"And I suppose you tried to protect me"

Blair nodded and hung his head."I don't like them talking bad about you"

"No more fighting young man." Naomi admonished sternly. "I can fight my own battles." She gave him a quick hug. "Now, come help me with the garden.We've got to get things ready for the market on Saturday"

A faint grin teased at Blair's lips. "Can I pick some of the peaches? Will you make a peach cobbler"

"For you baby, anything"

Together they worked on the garden for another half hour or so before going into their little house.

Naomi slid the cobbler into the oven and set the timer. She looked over to the small table with it's mismatched chairs and saw that Blair had already set the table. A huge salad sat centerpiece. She peeked around the corner into the living room.  
Blair was lying on the painted floor, his full attention on the notebook in front of him. He had folded up the quilt his great grandmother had made for him and now had his elbows propped up on it. All around him, scenes of open meadows and waterfalls gave an illusion of gentle serenity.

Naomi remembered fondly the long hours she and her son had spent during the previous summer creating their sanctuary. the ugly orange walls and plywood floors were long gone. Even the ceiling now showed and overhang of trees with golden rays of sun peeking through puffy clouds. In this room, Naomi and Blair both felt at peace.

"You working on your book again?" she teased. Blair quickly closed the notebook.

"Uh huh. I have a new story for the teacher. Will you check it later? I want it to be right when I turn it in"

"Sure baby. You know, most of the kids just use their spelling words in sentences, they don't write whole stories"

"But Mommy," Blair whined, "that's no fun"

Naomi chuckled as Blair picked his things up from the floor.

"Some of the paint is peeling from this flower." Blair pointed towards his painted garden.

"We'll fix it later, but right now supper is ready"

Blair sniffed the air appreciatively."Veggie lasagna"

"Just like you asked for yesterday"

He waggled his eyebrows.

"With garlic bread"

"Of course. Wouldn't serve it any other way"

"Yum."

Naomi tucked the quilt around her little boy, absently noting that the nights were getting colder.  
Fall would be here soon.

"Now, no fighting tomorrow. Ok"

"Ok Mommy." He caught her hand as she smoothed his unruly curls from his face. "Mommy,  
are we poor"

Naomi was a little startled by the question.

"Poor? No, not really. We have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. Why do you ask"

Blair sighed."Stephen says we're poor cause we don't have a big house or a new car"

"Stephen huh. Is that who you were fighting with"

"Uh huh. He says his father is always at work so he can give him and his brother everything. He says his Dad is hardly ever at home." He picked at a stray thread on his pajamas.

"Well, sometimes it's better to have a little less money and have a little more time don't you think"

The little boy nodded solemnly. "I think his Mommy is gone. I heard him talking to his friends once. She left awhile back and he hasn't heard from her since"

"So his mother is gone and his father isn't home much? Sounds lonely to me"

"Me too. Ya know, maybe it's better to be poor"

"Better to be poor? How's that"

"Well, you're always here for me when I get home from school right"

"Right"

"And we don't have a car so we get to walk places instead. Remember last week when we were walking to the store and we saw that family of owls in the tree over by Miss. Rose's house"

"I remember"

"We might have missed that if we'd had a car. So why would we want to be rich. Especially if there's no one to share stuff with. I don't think I ever want to be rich if I have to live a lonely life"

Naomi hugged him tightly. "Me neither baby. Me neither"

The End.


End file.
